Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Remembering ‘a giant of a man’
Nation’s 41st president died Friday night at age 94
WEST CHESTER >> Earl Baker, a former state senator and Chester County Commissioner, remembers sitting with George H.W. Bush on Air Force Two and thinking to himself that he was talking with one of the greatest presidents of all time.
“After Ronald Reagan carried the state twice, with Bush as his vice presidential candidate, when Bush himself was elected it was sometimes called ‘Reagan’s Third Term,’ but Bush had his own special appeal,” Baker said. “He had served his nation not only as a pilot in World War II, when he bailed out and was picked up by a submarine, but as head of the CIA, ambassador to China, con-
gressman from Texas, and then an effective and welltraveled vice president. He is often referred to as a ‘gentleman,’ a term not often applied to a politician, because of his courtesy, his sense of fairness and his devotion to personal relationships.”
Baker said he remembers Bush as a man who was loyal to his family and to his country.
“I was Pennsylvania Republican Chairman in 1988, and I was very proud of that victory,” Baker said.
We took a large state delegation to the Republican Convention in New Orleans that year and we enthusiastically backed George H.W. Bush. He campaigned in Chester County to great support and zeal. After the election was over, Lee Atwater, who ran the national campaign, came to Pennsylvania and said, ‘Earl we hoped you could do it in Pennsylvania and you proved you could.’”
Baker said Bush’s type of leadership is all too rare and the nation should celebrate it.
“We must remember him for the great president, and the great man that he was,” Baker said.
Lee Greenwood, a native of Chester County, traveled across the country with Bush, the 41st president of the United States.
“Our time as friends took us from the White House to Camp David - which included Air Force One - to inaugurating the Points of Light Foundation at Disney World, to the opening of my theater in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, to Houston, Kennebunkport and every place where proud Americans reside,” he said. “He was the best man, most generous patriot, and greatest friend a man could ask for.”
Bush and his wife Barbara invited Greenwood to stay overnight at the White House where Greenwood slept in the Lincoln bedroom but never actually slept.
“The president and I watched ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ in the theater room with just the president and I — played several songs on piano for him in the foyer,” Greenwood said. “Then I stayed up all night reading the Gettysburg Address.”
Greenwood said in his mind, Bush will go down as one of the greatest presidents of all time.
“He treated me and my wife Kim like family and made us feel so comfortable around him,” he said. “Sometimes I would pinch myself that I was in the presence of this war hero and giant of a man - the president of the United States. Our last time to see President Bush was in Kennebunkport in August. We thought it might have been our final goodbye. He sang the words of my song ‘God Bless The USA’ as I sat at his piano and played the song that tied us together for so many years. It was perhaps the proudest moment I had ever sang the song. Just me, 41, Kim and the Secret Service agents - it was a moment that made me such a proud American and proud that I could bring him a moment of joy.
Flags were ordered at half-staff in Pennsylvania and will remain lowered 30 days in commemoration of the 41st president, on orders of the White House.
Plaudits for “41” rolled in from others across the Keystone State.
“President Bush was a tremendous Republican president; a decorated veteran; and a man committed to faith, family and charity,” said Val DiGiorgio, chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. “His voice and his legacy of selfsacrificing leadership will be missed by our party and our country.”
U.S. Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., joined the litany of those expressing their sentiments.
“President George H.W. Bush was a great American patriot, dedicated public servant, tireless humanitarian and a caring family man,” the senator said. “Kris and I join the nation in mourning President Bush’s passing and send our condolences to his family.”
Indicative of the former president’s ability to work across party lines, Democratic leaders also honored his passing.
“President George H.W. Bush was a kind and gentle man who dedicated his life to service and he will be greatly missed,” Gov. Tom Wolf said. “A decorated war hero and career public service with extensive credentials, President Bush protected and brought honor to America. ‘41’ will be remembered for signing the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, his post-presidency work on behalf of his fellow veterans and bringing honor and grace to his service.”
From enlisting in the Navy at 18 years old and becoming its youngest aviator at his time leading the CIA and being a U.S. envoy to his vice presidencies and presidency, George H.W. Bush was intelligent and dignified, leading the nation through Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and Manuel Noriega’s control of Panama.